MICHIGAN, United States (AFP) — A giant sinkhole formed underneath a house in Fraser, Michigan on Saturday (December 24) forcing families to interrupt their Holiday plans and evacuate the neighborhood. Signs of damage could be seen to the bottom half of the house’s exterior brick wall as the house slowly settled into the hollow ground underneath its foundation.
“The bricks fall from the side of the house. We saw the separation at the front of the house and it starting to go towards 15 mile,” said Tremetrice Smith, a neighbor who was also forced to evacuate.
Twenty-two families, including the owners of the damaged home, were ordered to leave on Holiday eve out of concern that the ground beneath the house and surrounding properties could give way any moment.
Residents could be running back-and-forth in the snow to collect their belongings before leaving the neighborhood.
City officials say the house is definitely going to collapse into the giant crater.
“It is going to collapse. The magnitude of that collapse, obviously, will be seen when it happens. The assessment of it right now is roughly 50 by 50 area,” said Mayor Joe Nichols.
Officials believe a huge pipe or drain caused the formation of the sinkhole 50 feet beneath the surface, NBC news reported.
